Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	authority_n	superior_n	wife_n	1,190	5	9.4257	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36771	The true nature of the divine law, and of disobediance thereunto in nine discourses, tending to shew in the one, a loveliness, in the other, a deformity : by way of a dialogue between Theophilus and Eubulus / by Samuel Du-gard ...	Dugard, Samuel, 1645?-1697.	1687 (1687)	Wing D2461; ESTC R14254	205,684	344

Disease but now mentioned it may seem he was For it is hard to give any other Reason why a Person whose Flesh is cover'd all over with the Leprosie should be pronounced clean and another who had any raw or live-flesh not overspread with it should be unclean Levit. 13.12 unless it were that the power of infection had ceased in the former and did continue in the later I doubt not Theophilus but our Psalmist and holy Men under Moses saw more things belonging to these Laws than any now adays are able to instance in But these may take off the force of what you urged against them as to their want of Reasons and in that respect as to their want of Excellencies Theoph. I willingly yield what indeed I cannot deny to these Laws And desire you will deal by my last Objection as you have done by the foregoing ones Eubul If I forget not it was this That the Precepts which require Fear are such as are enforced upon the account tbat God is Terrible and where so great Terribleness is at the bottom of these Laws the Love to them must needs be the Iess For perfect Love casteth out Fear I must confess that God in the Old Testament did often manifest himself in such a manner as might throw a Terrour into Men And even at the giving of the Law in Mount Sinai there were Thundrings and Lightnings and the Noise of the Trumpet and the Mountain smoaking All which might strike a Terrour and did strike so great an one into the People that they desired Moses to speak unto them and they would hear but should God speak unto them they should die But though this were so yet we may truly say That God chose this way by reason of the inflexible Nature of the People whom more mild and gentle Methods would not so well have prevail'd upon How often in Scripture are they called A stiff-necked People And therefore they were to be trained under the Law as under a School-master not being as yet fit for the highest things but as it were in the lowest Form. Their Duty of Fearing God they are to be excited unto by Means that represented God Terrible or they would not have feared him at all Hereupon those that knew the great Love of God to his People who rather than He would lose Them or They should cast Him off would use the more severe Methods for the keeping them in their Duty and the fitting them for his Favour might well love the Law that enjoyn'd the Fearing of God and the way also that enforced it But yet the Methods which struck such Terrour God was pleased to use only upon some special Occasions and he often if not always intermixed with them Means which were more gentle that this Fear might not be the Fear of a Slave or Captive to his Tyrant but of a Subject to his Prince who looks after those under him with Care and Love though he sometimes injects a Dread into them by his Majesty And this is very remarkable even in the giving of the Law when as we said God manifested his Terrours The Preface to the Decalogue remembers the Israelites of his great Kindnesses to them I am the Lord that brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage And in the Second Commandment his visiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of those that hate him is abundantly out-weigh'd by his shewing Mercy unto thousands in them that love him and keep his Commandments Some indeed there have been who have not approved of any Prologue to be put before Laws or any persuasives to be mingled with them it being the part of a Lawgiver by Authority to Command and not by arguments to persuade But though God hath more Power than all other Lawgivers and hath a Will infinitely more perfect than theirs and consequently might give his Laws in the most peremptory manner yet he was pleased to make way for them into the Hearts of his People by Love as well as Fear that as the careless might be affrighted so the more ingenuous might be allured and none kept back from Obedience either by presumption or discouragement I might instance in many places of Scripture pertinent hereunto but I will do it only in two where God is said to be Terrible The former is in Deut. 10.17 18. The Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords a Mighty and Terrible God But then the very next words are He doth execute the Judgment of the Fatherless and the Widow and loveth the Stranger in giving him Food and Raiment The other place is in Nehemiah Chap. 1.5 O Lord of Heaven the great and TERRIBLE God that keepeth COVENANT and MERCY to them that Love him and observe his Commandments How is his Terribleness here mitigated yea set off and made Lovely by his Goodness and Mercy And what better Comment can we give of these Scriptures and many others not unlike them than that of David Psal 130.4 There is Mercy with Thee that thou mayest be Feared Though there hath been a Strong Wind that rent the Mountains and brake in pieces the Rocks though an Earthquake there were and after that a Fire yet God was not so much in any of these or at least delighted not so much to be in these as in the still small Voice And this I think may be sufficient for your Objection and also for the Laws which require Duties to God as a Prince and Lawgiver Better Laws and better grounds for their observance could not be wish'd and so they might well be Loved Theoph. Pray Eubulus proceed to those Laws which require Duties from Men one to another Which I well remember you would have to be considered in the next place to those Laws which respected the Duties to God immediately Eubul For the wellfare of Society a Rational Man would desire that there should be Honour and Respect shew'd unto Superiours by those that are below them and that there should not be oppression and ill nature towards Inferiours from those that are above them but that Righteousness and Kindness should be exercised unto all Now these excellent things are all strictly enjoyn'd by Gods Law. The Duty of Honour and Respect to Superiours the Fifth Command sufficiently requires Honour thy Father and thy Mother i. e. all those who being in Place or Authority above thee are in a larger Sense Fathers and Mothers And since Authority and Dignity were first seated in and did arise from that which was Paternal I suppose that therefore Father and Mother are put for all Superiours And under the Word Honour are comprised all those Duties which in any Circumstances are in right Reason to be shewn from meaner Persons to those that are above them which Circumstances may upon occasion be better conceived than here at the present discoursed of For Superiours not oppressing those who are Infeferiour

here are called by Christ whether they be such as think themselves to be miserable or such as do not That by the One the Misery which they in good sort perceive may be avoided and from the Other the Misery which they are under though they see it not may by good Instructions be removed and they brought into those Paths which will give them a true rest from Sin at the present and will bring them into Everlasting Rest hereafter And how persuasive is that of St. Paul We as Ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be you reconciled unto God i. e. be you Obedient to his Laws and thereby reconcile yourselves unto him who by Disobedience were his Enemies And how strangely may this prevail for Love to God's Law when his Commands of themselves Righteous and Gentle are yet further softned by kind Invitations and Passionate Beseechings These are Theophilus the general Motives relating to all the Divine Laws together and if we will not be obstinate nor lay aside our Understandings with what pleasing Strengths will they come upon our Souls and sway them into Love and Obedience Theoph. But methinks Eubulus there is the absence of some things in them which were a great Ornament to the Law of Moses and as it may seem would be no less so to That of our Lord viz. Those Visible Expressions which I remember you mention'd in your first Walk of God's Power and Presence in the Vrim and Thummim in Oracles from the Ark in the wondrous Activeness of the sacred Fire in the Cloud filling the Temple and also in Miraculous Deliverances and Revenges These you said kept the love of Gods Laws awake that it sunk not into Carelesness and Irreverence Is there not as much need of these things or such as these now And would they not have been meet to accompany the Evangelical Motives you instanced in Eubul These were things which were adapted for that State where Men were to be wrought upon chiefly by means that could be seen and felt and were as yet not so fit for a more spiritual Dispensation But now when Heavenly Mysteries and Rewards are so fully revealed it would be our shame if not satisfied with them we should still be looking after outward and sensible Manifestations And I speak a truth when I say That God's being present with us in a spiritual manner is more suitable to his Nature which is incorporeal than his appearing in a Cloud or by other visible or audible Ways in the Jewish Temple was And it is also a more perfect Way than was that other That being more to the outward sense and the weaker part of Man This more to the Soul which is his Excellence That being exercised through visible things This through the Holy Spirit who is invisible and infinitely surpasseth them Neither is there wanting what may keep our Love from Drowziness as much or more than what under the Old Law there did The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of the Joynts and Marrow and the Holy Spirit like a Refiner's Fire will give a quickness unto and keep up vigour in our Love. But suppose Theophilus there should be visible and continued Manifestations of the Divine Presence as of old there were In tract of time they would be esteem'd little different from the effects of Nature and would prevail with Men no more than the Course of the Sun and Moon and the Growth of Trees and Herbs which from their commonness make small Impressions upon the less knowing and immoral sort of Men. And it may be these more open Expressions of his Power and Presence which God Almighty gave under the first Temple he therefore denied under the second because their every-days being seen made them so little taken notice of that they thereby in great measure lost their End. But if you would have the Divine Power to be now and then in extraordinary Concerns exerted beyond the common road of Nature as I cannot say but somtimes it now is though very rarely neither would this possibly have the effect you think of We live in a curious and uncrediting World and those whom these things should most work upon would if far distant not believe that there were such things If they should be so near as to see them they would be forward to solve such Acts by Natural Reasons and thereby render them fruitless to themselves However it be we in general may say That God in these later Ages of the World chuseth to manifest himself more by the exercise of his Wisdom than by the open Effects of his Power herein dealing with Men according to their own way Policy and Contrivance being that which almost every one affecteth And from the more quiet and wise disposal of things now God's Hand by religious and considering Men may as truly be acknowledged as when his Methods were more discernable by the Eye Therefore since the Divine Laws as now they are settled are abundantly fitted for the prevailing upon sober and docible Minds and those visible effects of God's Power would not in all likelihood sway with those who are of a contrary Disposition and his secret way of acting is the choice of his Providence to confound and bring under the evil Policies of Men in a suitable and agreeing manner we have no reason to complain as if there were a want of those visible Expressions of his Power and Presence which he heretofore afforded and we are very unjust if we prefer some Motives belonging to the Law of old before those which appertain to the Divine Law now Theoph. Your Reply hath satisfied me and made a fair way for me to intreat your proceeding to those Motives which you said there were to every particular Law apart by itself Eubul They deserve not to be passed over without notice For they are so apposite so sweet and strong that nothing can be more And such as are either wholly peculiar to the Gospel or else are there more clearly and convincingly urged Would it not be long I might at large instance ●n those Laws which respect God immediately other Men and ourselves but I will so far presume as briefly to do it Can any thing more stir up the Duty of Love ●nd Gratitude to God than that he is so much more our Father by Redemption than he was by Creation by how much the shedding of the Blood of God transcends the speaking of a Word Can a Reverential Fear be more awakened by any thing than by our being acquainted that he is able to destroy both Body and Soul in Hell and by our being bid to fear him with a redoubled Precept Fear him I say unto you Fear him And then for Duties to others in the Relation of Subjects to a Prince of Priest and People of Husbands and Wives of Parents and Children of Masters and Servants and of

Neighbours one to another Nothing can possibly prevail more upon Rational Men for Obedience to Princes than that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacred Ministers of God. That Damnation shall be received if resistance be made And that the Conscience within is to be preferr'd before the Fear of Wrath without And surely Princes may well embrace the Name and maintain the Practice of Christianity which thus secures them of the Hands and Hearts of their Subjects What stronger Motives can there be for Peoples Respect and Love to their Ministers than that they are Stewards of the Mysteries of God upon their account That in Christs stead they beseech them to be reconciled unto God And that they are set apart for this very thing to wit the promoting the welfare of their Souls and how prevalent such Motives have been we may learn from the Galatians carriage towards St. Paul who would if possible have plucked out their own Eyes and given them unto him Neither are the Duties of Pastors urged with less Weight The Church's being purchased by the Blood of God is the argument for their Feeding it and they are charged before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall Judge the Quick and the Dead to do it The consideration of which what Heart would it not affect For Mutual Love and Delight between Those whom Wedlock hath joyn'd it is an highly sacred Motive That Marriage is so far honour'd as to become Mysterious in the Signification of Christ the Bridegroom and the Church his Spouse and of that Vnion which is between them never to be dissolved And how admirably may the Hardness of Mens Hearts be overcome by such a Consideration as this And how is the Credit of those who are the Weaker Sex provided for by not being permitted now to be cast off upon every trivial Distaste For that Mysterious Signification which we said Marriage is enobled with doth plainly hint that the Bond thereof is to continue firm and unbroken and that the Faithful Affections both of the One and the Other in the Wedded Pair will certainly with other Virtues after this Life be rewarded living in a manner for ever in that Divine Love they did here represent Fathers must be tender to their Children and not provoke them to Wrath from that winning Motive that they have a Father in Heaven who they desire may not be pitiless and wrathful to them And Childrens Obedience is quickned by its being in the Lord Which Expression doth not only hint the Extent of their Obedience and how far it should reach but doth shew also that God is concern'd in it and doth observe whether it be truly perform'd or no. And the taking notice of the Fifth Commandment as being the first that hath a Promise annex'd unto it and the improving that Promise of Earthly and Temporal Blessings into Spiritual and Eternal is a very high Encouragement of the Duty The Faithfulness of Servants hath Motives admirably strong to wit That they do Service to Christ while they do it conscionably to their Masters That He sees their Diligence or Loitering when their Masters cannot And that He will reward whatsoever good thing any Man doth no less though he be bound than if he were free And Masters have a Motive equally as strong for their Gentleness and Goodness towards their Servants from their having a Master in Heaven with whom is no respect of Persons Which imports that the Authority which a Master hath on Earth shall not in Heaven or at God's Bar stand him in any stead if he bear it hardly and frowardly towards his Servant Lastly For the Duty of Neighbours one to another What more taking Motive can there be for their Love and Peaceableness than that they are as lively Stones built up a Spiritual House Absurd it would be if in our Buildings the Materials should be at variance and will it not be much more so in Gods Building where Jesus Christ is the chief Corner-Stone They are excited to love one another as being Brethren in a far more Noble Relation than that of Nature Thy Brother saith St. Paul in more than one place for whom Christ died And what an effectual and kindly Operation may this have in all those Matters of Discord which may arise among Neighbours and Friends Shall such or such an Offence make me an Enemy to him for whom Christ hath died Shall any Worldly Concern overturn that Love and break that Vnion which Christ hath Cemented and Established with his own most precious Blood A mighty Inducement for the love of Neighbours this Though not proper to this Relation alone but running through all the foregoing ones The higher place in every one of them being not too high and the lower one not too low to admit the Name of Brother And so all the Duties thereof may be promoted and the more benignly carried on by this Motive I thought it not amiss Theophilus in short thus to hint the Excellent Motives which the Gospel affords as proper to every particular Law by itself consider'd And they are as I said either purely Evangelical as flowing some way or other from the Mystery of our Redemption which could not have been known had it not been divinely revealed or else such as are to a much greater Persuasiveness urged than ever they were before Theoph. They prevail so much with me that methinks were I in the meanest of these Relations or could I by turns be each part in them all I could love every Law belonging to them for the apposite and excellent Motives which to every Law are annex'd But Eubulus you have not yet given me any taste of those Motives which respect the Laws to a Mans Self in particular Eubul But since you seem to desire it I will. And while I recount them in my thoughts somtimes though I approve of any thing that leads to Virtue be it even in the meanest of Philosophers yet I have a low esteem of the very highest of their Encouragements if compared with these of our Lord. For the keeping of our Bodies free from Intemperance and Vncleanness can there be any thing more prevailing than that they are Members of that Body to which Christ is the Head That they are Temples of the Holy Ghost That they are bought with a price even with the Blood of Christ And that they will not be lost when they are laid in the Earth but will be raised up again from the Dead And he who is wiling to weigh these things rightly How can he take the Members of Christ and make them the Instruments of Vncleanness the Receptacles of Luxury and Excess How can he pollute that Temple which the Holy Ghost doth Consecrate and delight to reside in How can he answer it if be defiles that Body which is not his own yea which our Saviour hath Cleansed with his Blood as well as Bought And with what Face can he abuse That